Douglas Todd: Civic pride can overcome our fixation on problems


How three Metro municipalities are harnessing people power to tackle some of the problems of highly urban, highly diverse communities

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Society tends to fixate on bad news and social problems, says Richmond resident Albert Lo.

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It can cause people to hunker down, isolate themselves and get in the way of them feeling proud of where they live.

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“’People are getting along’: That’s not an exciting headline. Our society tends to focus more on conflict,” says Lo, former national chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, a charity and federal Crown corporation.

Sophia Huang, however, is one of many Metro Vancouver residents sending an alternative message, one of pride of place. The Surrey mother of two regularly gathers together a neighbourhood team of children between ages three and 10 to head out and pick up litter.

Adorned in “Love Where You Live” shirts, the kids sport city-supplied garbage bags and picker-uppers to gather candy wrappers, cigarette butts, bottles and other assorted garbage in Fraser Heights. They sometimes turn it into a race, seeing who can grab the most junk the quickest.

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“They think it’s fun. It’s not boring for them. I want the kids to know they belong to this community. They need to be proud of where they live,” said Huang, a permanent resident who says she loves Canada after moving here with her husband from China almost a decade ago.

At least three Metro Vancouver municipalities are doing their bit to try to enhance civic engagement by encouraging more citizens to join volunteer projects, become park stewards, vote in elections, support an environmental push, help at the library, play amateur sports, put on cultural events or get involved in political decision-making.

Surrey has “Love Where You Live.” Richmond has its “Cultural Harmony Plan.” And the City of North Vancouver has programs like “I Love my City” and “Open Streets.”

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While each effort is different, they are devoted to getting more citizens to connect with each other and their city.

Part of these efforts to promote civic pride and citizenship are captured in an international survey released Nov. 16 on what makes a person a good member of society, which was conducted in 18 countries, including Canada, by Pew Research.

Pew found this year that people around the world believe the most important things to do to be good members of society are to vote, obtain a COVID-19 vaccination, counter climate change and follow political developments.

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In Canada, 84 per cent of respondents stressed voting in elections. Almost six in 10 Canadians said it’s very important to get a vaccination, to “follow what is happening politics in Canada” and to reduce the effects of global warming.

In addition, 44 per cent of Canadians stressed the need to “follow current events in other countries” and 29 per cent emphasized “joining demonstrations about issues you think are important.” Only 17 per cent found it important to “attend religious services frequently.”

Volunteers from Alcuin College prepare Christmas decorations for the City of North Vancouver’s Open Streets program on Lonsdale Avenue. They’re inside a city-sponsored shipping container, which has been adapted into a public space and used for Remembrance Day, Halloween and other events.
Volunteers from Alcuin College prepare Christmas decorations for the City of North Vancouver’s Open Streets program on Lonsdale Avenue. They’re inside a city-sponsored shipping container, which has been adapted into a public space and used for Remembrance Day, Halloween and other events. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

How ‘civic pride’ makes a personal difference

While the Pew survey focuses on what actions are most linked with being a good member of a nation, the efforts of cities often end up appearing more modest, though more immediate and personal.

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“All these policies focused on promoting civic pride, engagement, and belonging … represent municipalities trying their best, with the limited powers they have, to deal with challenges that are largely being driven and shaped by global-scale forces and the actions of senior levels of government,” said John Rose, a geography instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

There is only so much a municipality can do on its own, Rose said, to increase voter turnout, combat climate change and respond to homelessness, unaffordable housing, mental health and drug addiction, economic polarization, and population growth.

But municipalities can responsibly fulfil their mandate to promote civic engagement and belonging, he said, by keeping public places clean, providing effective policing and firefighting, enhancing schools, libraries, parks and community centres and earning the public’s confidence by making decisions in a transparent, democratic and fiscally responsible way.

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That builds the foundation for citizen participation in several ways.

Surrey’s community enhancement manager, Yalda Asadian, says programs related to “Love Where You Live” counter people viewing the city negatively “through stereotyping, or narratives that only focus on problems.”

Surrey is home to one-quarter of all foreign-born residents in Metro Vancouver, predominantly from South Asia.

“Many newcomers to Surrey have a strong drive to truly feel part of the community,” Asadian said. “Immigrants also talk about the importance of getting local volunteer experience and connections that will help them find a career in their field.”

In terms of concrete action, Surrey’s November report on the Love Where You Live program said it has encouraged 400 volunteers and city staff to collect 4,681 garbage bags of litter, to remove graffiti from 289 locations, to beautify neighbourhoods by planting 4,000 city-bought trees on private property and to clean up “3,185 illegal dumping sites.”

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The City of North Vancouver, in addition to providing services, has a range of programs to increase engagement. They include an online “Let’s talk” forum, a “Make Every Day A Good Neighbour Day” program, a volunteer park steward program and concerted ways to encourage residents to join a city committee, participate in a public meeting or take part in environmental events such as Rivers Day. That’s not to mention handing out “I Love My City” colouring sheets.

Costumed teenagers dance at the City of North Vancouver’s Grand Boulevard Pumpkin Walk this Halloween.
Costumed teenagers dance at the City of North Vancouver’s Grand Boulevard Pumpkin Walk this Halloween. Photo by olive & bean photography /olive & bean photography

Penny Dundas co-ordinates kindergarten to Grade 12 students at North Vancouver’s Alcuin College in becoming active in the community. They have promoted anti-bullying pink shirts, carved Halloween jack-o’-lanterns for the annual Grand Boulevard Pumpkin Walk and handed out Remembrance Day poppies from the city’s converted shipping containers on Lonsdale Ave, which serve as public meeting places.

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“It sounds cheesy, but it’s so true that it just makes you feel good to have the students give away poppies to everybody and have everyone look so pleased,” said Dundas. It connects people. “Studies have shown people are less likely to be bullied if they feel part of the community.”

Is Richmond’s Cultural Harmony Plan working?

Three years ago, in response to concerns the people of Richmond were not fully interacting across cultures, the city launched its extensive “Cultural Harmony Plan.”

It borrowed the harmony ideal from Chinese tradition, since people of Chinese origin now make up 54 per cent of residents, compared to 20 per cent of those with European heritage and seven per cent each rooted in South Asia and the Philippines.

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A Richmond city official said the cultural harmony plan has lead to the creation of a “Newcomers to Richmond” video series and a library art program called “Stories of Home: Past and Present,” in which newcomers are encouraged to express “what they miss from home and what they love about their current life in Richmond.”

Richmond also works with the RCMP on a “hate has no place” program.

Sara Kanafani, a Grade 11 student at Steveston-London Secondary school, is one of the volunteers learning about how things work in Richmond City Hall, getting involved in a women’s group and talking to seniors about their lives, with the aim of turning their stories into art through the Mosaic Firefly project.

“I think Richmond is a really inclusive city. It’s really open to everyone,” said Kanafani, whose parents immigrated from Lebanon. While acknowledging people from different cultures often find it more comfortable just to stick to themselves, Kanafani encourages everyone “to take that leap of confidence to stretch yourself to understand other people’s experience.”

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“I think Richmond is really open to everyone,” says Sara Kanafani, a Grade 11 student who is learning about the workings of city hall and volunteering to talk to seniors about their lives. Here Kanafani tries out Richmond mayor’s chair at city hall.
“I think Richmond is really open to everyone,” says Sara Kanafani, a Grade 11 student who is learning about the workings of city hall and volunteering to talk to seniors about their lives. Here Kanafani tries out Richmond mayor’s chair at city hall. jpg

Albert Lo says there is little doubt acts of racism have occurred in Richmond, with the perpetrators and victims coming from a range of ethnic groups. But he believes the city’s Cultural Harmony Plan is being effective at overcoming language barriers and intercultural suspicion. The plan emphasizes what Lo calls Canadian values, such as mutual respect and human dignity.

“I do believe that over the decades there has been a lot of goodwill among Canadians,” said Lo, a former real estate professional who immigrated to Canada in his youth. “There’s no doubt about it. But some still try to make it look otherwise.”

A preoccupation with crime and hatred in society, he said, can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. It can make people feel anxious and wanting to keep to themselves. Lo urged all residents of Richmond to take part in intercultural projects like the Night Market, amateur sports, concerts and community family events.

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Watching his son grown up playing soccer in Richmond, Rose has seen the special way friendly sports competition, and working together on a common cause, can build civil connections.

“My son’s Richmond sports teams have consisted of players of diverse backgrounds, traits and identities. They’re people he not only co-operated with on and off the pitch, but with whom he’s developed lasting friendships.”

The son of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s John Rose has played soccer in Richmond with teammates of diverse backgrounds. ‘They’re people he not only co-operated with on and off the pitch, but with whom he’s developed lasting friendships.’
The son of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s John Rose has played soccer in Richmond with teammates of diverse backgrounds. ‘They’re people he not only co-operated with on and off the pitch, but with whom he’s developed lasting friendships.’ Photo by Handout by subject /jpg

Rose is moderately skeptical about “top-down social cohesion” narratives constructed by governments and others, but recognizes they have their place. However, he especially applauds when citizens of pluralistic Metro Vancouver adopt the “mutual comprehensibility of a shared language” to develop relationships from the ground up.

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The possible downside of civic pride is that it becomes based on a narrow vision of what makes for an ideal city, Rose said. There is a danger that concepts like civic pride and social harmony can be used to maximize the enjoyment of one group at the expense of another.

“At its worst, civic pride becomes a bully-term to silence dissent about the state of the city and its governance. As in: ‘You’re not proud of our city? Like it, or leave it.’”

But such hazards are far outweighed, he said, by people developing the feelings of attachment and belonging that come with a sense of satisfaction with one’s community.

[email protected]

@douglastodd

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